Ehrlich: Focus on further enhancing client experience, business expansion in 2009
Unveils Rebranded Products within the Lightspeed Suiteof Trading Solutions
NEW YORK, January 12, 2009 – Lightspeed Financial, LLC, a leading provider ofdirect market access trading technology, risk management solutions, and brokerage services for professional retail active traders and institutional investors, todayreported record business metrics and trading results for the year endedDecember 31, 2008 across its Electronic Trading and Algorithmic Tradingbusinesses.
Firm-wide daily averagerevenue trades (DARTs) increased 159% to 1,003,837 in 2008 compared with 388,000in 2007 and 185 million client shares were traded per day in 2008, which representsan increase of 138% over the 77.7 million traded the year prior.
Stephen Ehrlich, ChiefExecutive Officer, Lightspeed Financial, LLC, said, “Our clients recognize thatthere are significant opportunities to profit on the intraday movement ofstocks, particularly amid the current market environment where volatility ishigh and identifying long-term investments is extremely challenging. Lightspeedensures that these sophisticated active traders are armed with the fastest,most comprehensive trading, brokerage and risk management services available tohelp them gain a competitive edge and implement their trading strategies with success.”
Mr. Ehrlich added, “Our commitmentto delivering a superior client experience is a contributing factor toLightspeed’s success and a driving force behind our plans to further expand our product offerings and explore strategic business growth opportunities in the year ahead.”
Lightspeed also announced ahost of rebranded products within its suite of trading solutions including:
·Lightspeed Trader – the centerpiece of Lightspeed’s Electronic Tradingsolution, Lightspeed Trader is a customizable,highly-scalable direct market access trading platform that enables rapidentry/execution of equities, options and futures trades from a single tradingscreen while delivering ultra low latency market data, advanced trading tools,streaming charts and news and real-time risk management tools.
·Lightspeed Gateway – formerly HUBB Solutions, Lightspeed Gateway is thecornerstone of Lightspeed’s Algorithmic Trading solution and provides highfrequency professional or institutional clients employing algorithmic or blackbox trading strategies with sophisticated brokerage services and a completetechnology infrastructure for high performance direct-market access, as well asrisk management tools, and co-location services within NASDAQ’s datacenter.
·Lightspeed Institutional – provides prime brokerage and clearing services, tradeexecution platforms, and back office solutions for hedge funds, institutions,and trading group leaders.
·Lightspeed Risk – Formerly Lightsource Risk System, this powerful,customizable equity risk monitoring system with trade administration and brokerage functions displays real-time data and enables profit and loss monitoring, reviewsconcentrated positions on a group or trader basis, and monitors activity in lowvolume stocks as well as activity and positions in highly volatile states. LightspeedRisk also provides access an automated, real-time short locate system allowingelectronic requests and ensuring automated compliance with regulations.
·Lightspeed Education – Lightspeed offers access to a host of trading toolsand third party educational resources including partnerships with the OptionsIndustry Council and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to provide traders withaccess to a vast array of educational materials and resources for options andfutures trading, respectively. In addition, Lightspeed’s unique “Trader Talk”series features actual Lightspeed clients sharing investment advice and tradingstrategies.
“The goal of this rebranding is to streamline our products and services under the Lightspeed umbrella and is part of our larger, ongoing effort to further distinguish the Lightspeed offering throughoutthe active trading arena – an effort that commenced last spring with the launchof our newly designed website,” said Ehrlich.
Other rebranded products include Lightspeed Admin, Lightspeed Quotes and Lightspeed ECN Books. Completedetails of all rebranded products and services will be available on the Lightspeedwebsite beginning in February 2009.
About Lightspeed Financial, LLC
Headquartered in New York City, Lightspeed Financial operates through two wholly-owned subsidiaries:
Lightspeed Trading, LLCoperates as fully disclosed introducing broker-dealers and FINRA and NFA members. They offer securities and direct access brokerage, trading and advanced order routing services to their customers utilizing Lightspeed’s software products.
Lightspeed Technologies, LLCserves as the Company’s technology development subsidiary. Lightspeed develops and operates the Lightspeed Direct Market Access trading software application, the LightspeedGateway real-time risk management application and the Middle Office Technologysuite. Utilizing a number of proprietary technologies, Lightspeed offersreal-time market data platforms and direct-access trading systems tobroker-dealers, institutional entities and professional traders.
